Column: Fish stinks from the head in bridge scandal

Apr. 27, 2014

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie takes off his jacket to move to the audience participation part of his Town Hall meeting at the Holiday City clubhouse in Berkeley Township, Tuesday, March 4, 2014. / Thomas P. Costello/Staff Photographer

Column by

There was a time, just after the infamous “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email surfaced, that there was hope for a change in tone.

The administration of Gov. Chris Christie, led by its aggravator in chief, had been somewhat humbled in early January, brought low by the revelation that one of its own — now former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly — had arrogantly and without regard for the general citizenry ordered up a traffic jam on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge. The question about the scandal, then and now, is why. We still haven’t received that answer.

A chastened Christie, proclaiming a complete lack of personal knowledge of the bridge scheme, promised that he was looking deep within himself for answers on how an administration could have been tripped up by something so stupid and so reckless. Of course, we had hints then that our optimism was a fool’s wide-eyed hope. Christie’s self-reflection centered on why someone would betray him, rather than on the culture he created. Still, we wondered: Can Christie change? Can the governor reform a politically arrogant office that obviously took its cues from its leader?

The governor’s answer, laid bare during Thursday’s town hall meeting in Brick, was a resounding, unequivocal and sadly tone-deaf “no.”

“If I, in fact, created a culture where people were going after each other, then how did we do all these things together with Democrats and Republicans?” Christie said, after ticking off a list of his accomplishments with the Democratic-controlled state Legislature. “But the allegation that somehow that this was a culture that was created just doesn't have any basis in fact."

You could see it coming. As the months passed since the first sickening details of his administration’s role in the bridge scandal were revealed, Christie has morphed from low-key to defiant. And now the circle is complete, with a generous sprinkle of revisionist history to boot.

(Page 2 of 2)

Christie’s comment that the claim of a culture of arrogance in his office “just doesn’t have any basis in fact” is laughable.

Let’s have a quick review:

• The administration has repeatedly delayed records requests for obviously public information. And in at least one case, where it lost a battle to keep documents related to Sandy recovery aid secret, the governor’s press secretary labeled the winner of the suit part of “a real rogues gallery of critics with axes and agendas to grind.”

• The governor, angered over the Legislature’s budget bill in 2011, slashed the line item for legislative staff.

Although the funding was eventually restored, there was no earthly reason to make such a move, except to stick it in the eye of the Democratic leadership.

• Not simply content to make his own case for his political positions, Christie has disparaged opponents at nearly every turn.

If he isn’t calling those who disagree with him “jerk, “idiot” or “numbnuts,” he’s trashing entire states, a tactic he recently took with Colorado, which had the temerity to legalize marijuana, a move the governor has said he will never do in New Jersey.

Somehow, these facts and more, documented in such volume that I could use this entire column to recount and still fall short of a comprehensive list, seem to elude the governor, who clings to the skirts of bipartisanship as if the things he has accomplished with the help of Democrats in the Legislature negate the darker angels of his nature.

And the polls show those darker angels are having an impact on Christie’s reputation. Simply put, a majority of people don’t believe him anymore, even though half still approve of his job performance.

There is a deep well of good will toward Christie in this state, but when an administration resorts to blatant political thuggery, you can’t expect the good will to continue.

There is an old saying: “The fish stinks from the head.”

Christie may try to wave away the smell by claiming it doesn’t exist or that the rotten parts have been cleaned out.

But the odor remains, and as we saw in Brick Thursday, it’s coming from the top.